10 lazy days in Kuna Yala

A late morning breakfast of pancakes and coffee with the Saila of the island. Brilliant hot sun. Jumping in the sea to cool down. An afternoon snorkel on the reef. Marveling at the millions of small pin sized fish sparkling in the water. Getting a perfect picture of Segwun with the coconut palms and white sand beach island in the background. An evening rain storm with a lightning show in the distance. A candlelight dinner of chili and rice with toasted garlic bread and a bottle of wine. This all makes for a typical day in the San Blas islands, or Kuna Yala as they are now officially referred to.

Life in the islands is completely stress free. Where there is nothing to do but read a good book and gaze sleepily at the picture postcard islands around you. Or have the little girl that lives on the island teach you a simple game in the sand which she was able to explain without words and only actions. Although we tried hard to follow it was clear that whatever happened, she was going to win. Did the rules change, or did we just not really understand the finer points of the game? All in good fun and it was a moment to laugh and be silly as we hopped around the board scratched in the sand with a piece of coral and were reminded what it was to be a child again.

Visitors in dugout canoes show up at the side of the boat without notice having quietly paddled from a nearby island. Each day we have been visited by the neighboring Kunas; most selling Molas. Others collecting a fee for anchoring off the island or selling freshly caught lobsters, crabs and octopus or beer and groceries. The most important visit of all was by Soledad island's Saila (chief) who came round to invite us to the nightly Congresso and also ask for a contribution to the event. I was just making breakfast when he arrived, so he invited himself on board and joined us for pancakes and coffee. We made a donation and with a bottle of cold water from our fridge he quietly paddled off in his ulu (dug out canoe). The Kunas are the native people in the islands of Kuna Yala. Kuna are similar to the Kogi's of Colombia in that they have their own language, live very much the way they did before the 'white' man showed up, are small in stature, and are soft spoken, gentle and respectful.

What is a Mola you ask? Molas are hand stitched, intricately designed pieces of cloth that are then sewn into the traditional Kuna women's dresses. There are the 'tourist' Molas which have a more simple design, colorful backgrounds and typically pictures of birds and fish. And then you meet a Mola Master who makes the traditional Molas with traditional colors and designs which are usually more geometric and are highly intricate using several layers of fabric. These will cost you more as they can take four weeks to make.

We met two Mola Masters; Vanencio, from whom we bought a beautiful Mola worthy of framing and Lisa who is also a well-known transvestite. She spoke very good english and had some beautiful Molas, but unfortunately we had already spent enough money on Molas.

We learned a little about the islands from Giddo who was tending the coconut plantation on Green Island. He comes there every week to collect the coconuts that have fallen and to trim off the dead branches. He shares the responsibility with another family member, working one month on, one month off. The island is quite large and is shared by two families. The harvested coconuts are taken to Sugar Island to be sold to the Colombians. He offered to bring coconuts to our boat and showed up with his ulu almost overflowing with coconuts. I was amazed he didn't tip over his canoe as he was standing to talk to us. He had prepared two big green coconuts for us that were full of sweet water and we also took two small ones with coconut more suitable for grating. Then he set his sail and headed out again as we feasted on fresh coconut.

We enjoyed the island hopping and snorkeling but then fuel was running low and the pantry was also looking a little uninspiring so we made ready one last time as we headed to the marina in Colon.